Chemical Synthesis Placement Review

I had a really amazing time on placement. The role was organic synthesis based and I was working on a project that really fit. As well as this I found that the chemistry I was carrying out was mainly reactions I had learned about in lectures. My lab and other management skills improved drastically and I felt that the work I did really helped the business.

I felt that I was highly valued in my division and was able to preset my work to the rest of the team and I received credit. I did find however that when business colleagues were presenting my work I was not always credited although this did not happen very much.

I felt like my supervisor gave me the right amount of credit. We met every morning to discuss work for the day then I was left to it really. He was however always able to make time for me to ask any questions or listen to any suggestions I might have throughout the day. If he was not available, there was always someone else in the lab that would be able to answer my questions.

I spent a majority of my time in the lab doing experiments with the rest of my time in the office. It could occasionally get very busy but most of the time it was a nice balance between lab and office work whilst also allowing for the time for tea breaks with the rest of my colleagues.

The projects I was working on were needed by the buisness and were not just made up for the students. Although the ideas were a joint effort between my supervisor and I, I was the one doing all of the synthesis and any ideas that I had were taken seriously and in most cases were put forward to make. As well as this I was involved in the subsequent testing of these molecules so was able to see how they reacted in situ

The main skill I developed was my lab skills which improved dramatically throughout my placement as I was able to see new equipment and new techniques that I had not seen before. Time management became another equally important skill which will be invaluable in later studies. As well as this other skills such as presenting and business acumen were also developed

I was in a office for the students in the same area as me so the atmosphere was always good. It would be quite quiet some of the time but everyone was always happy to help with any work/uni questions. The office was a really nice place to work and I have made some amazing friends from being there.

It was really well set up. Before we started we had a familiarisation day s we could visit the site, meet everyone and learn which area of research we would be doing. Everything was ready for when I started and within the first two weeks we had had training on how to use all of the systems and had meetings with supervisors to discuss the background of the project.

The company allowed me to be a part of a project that had significance to the business. As well as this was invited to the symposium were I could interact with other areas both at the site and internationally. I was also able to go on any of the training sessions that were happening on site.

Lubrizol takes on many PhD students of which I am potentially interested in being a part of. As far as I know there are no grad schemes but Lubrizol is known for taking on past students.

Being based in Derby, there was a huge variety of things to do, from going out to going to other things etc. As well as thing being so close to other cities like Nottingham we were able to take advantage of the great social scene and spend time together outside of work.

The house prices were average/low and so was so was shopping. The cost to go out and socialise was also quite low which meant that the students were able to spend time together without it costing loads of money.

In Derby the nightlife was pretty good with bars as well as pubs and clubs. The nightlife in Nottingham was also very good and was easily accessible with a bus that ran regularly.

Lubrizol has a sports and social club which ran subsidised events like skating, laser tag and going walking up Scottish Munros as well a ball.